Totally Gaming – Singapore police have arrested 18 people believed to be part of a multi-million dollar illegal football betting ring. With less than a month before the World Cup starts, the police said in a statement that preliminary investigations had revealed that the suspects were believed to have received illegal soccer bets amounting to an estimated $6.4m in the past two weeks alone.
The nationalities of the suspects, 16 women and two men, who were detained during raids on Sunday and Monday, were not revealed, but cash totalling over $1m, as well as computers, mobile phones, and documents detailing betting and bank transaction records were seized during the raid, police said.
“Bookmakers and bettors who assume that they can hide behind the anonymity of the Internet to commit criminal offences should think twice,” deputy assistant commissioner of police Kenny Tan warned in the statement.
“The police will find them and prosecute both bookmakers and bettors alike to the fullest extent of the law.”
